Expanding to new venues across commercial cinemas in Qatar has allowed the Doha Film Institute (DFI) to deliver this year’s Ajyal screenings to an unprecedented number of audiences and making them part of a truly unique festival experience in the Arab world, festival director and DFI CEO Fatma Hassan Alremaihi said.

“In line with DFI’s mission to lay a foundation for Qatar’s film industry, Ajyal has matured into an important event for learning and cultural exchange," she told a press conference at the festival.

"Themes, direction, acting – our jurors are guided through the entire storytelling process, allowing them to assume ownership and responsibility, which applies to all disciplines," she said.

Commenting on the returning Made in Qatar presented by Ooredoo programme, Alremaihi observed that it has successfully given volume to compelling stories from the region, for instance In the Middle and its vivid portrayal of the ongoing situation in Yemen, which highlights the Institute’s commitment to showcase regional voices to the international film community.

On the Institute’s latest partnership with the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) for the Made in India programme, she said: “Our expanding partnerships are building an important foundation for future collaborations, which will allow DFI to venture into new education and grant programmes that can evoke real change and support authentic storytelling.”

The seventh edition of the Ajyal Film Festival concludes tomorrow (Saturday) at Katara Cultural Village.